FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE
December 7, 2011
For More Information, contact:
Luther Strange
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Alabama Attorney General
Suzanne Webb (334) 242-7351
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AG ANNOUNCES CONVICTION FOR SEX CRIMES AGAINST CHILD
(MONTGOMERY) – Attorney General Luther Strange announced the conviction
of a man for sex crimes against a child in Morgan County. Zachary Mullins, 24, of
Hartselle, pleaded guilty on December 1 to one count of second-degree rape and one
count of second-degree sodomy. He was sentenced on December 5 to 10 years for each
of the two convictions, to be served concurrently. He was ordered to serve three years
in prison followed by seven years of probation and registration as a sex offender.
The Attorney General’s Office presented evidence to a Morgan County grand
jury in 2009 resulting in indictments against Mullins and a woman who has already
been convicted and sentenced for her crimes. Jessica Heather Defoor was sentenced in
March 2010 to six years for the class C felony of enticing a child for sexual purposes. She
was ordered to serve two years in prison followed by five years of supervised
probation. In addition, she was sentenced to 12 months, to be served concurrently, for
second-degree sexual abuse, and she will be required to register as a sex offender.
The crimes of Mullins and Defoor were acts against the same child victim. The
matter was discovered when the child shared information with a teacher and school
officials reported it to authorities.
Attorney General Strange commended Assistant Attorneys General Kelly
Hawkins, Andrew Arrington and Stephanie Billingslea, as well as special agents of his
Investigations Division. He also thanked the following agencies for assistance: the
Decatur and Hartselle police departments, the Morgan County Child Advocacy Center,
the Morgan County Board of Education, the Morgan County District Attorney’s Office,
the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, the Alabama Department of Human Resources, and
the United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations at Vandenberg Air Force
Base (where Mullins was arrested in 2009).
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501 Washington Avenue Montgomery, AL 36104 (334) 242-7300
www.ago.alabama.gov
